The 2020 Student Bar Awards LawCareers.Net will be held on Thursday 12 March 2020 at 116 Pall Mall in London. The purpose of these awards is to recognize and celebrate the great work that societies do at universities across the country and the fantastic events and opportunities they create for their members. I have enjoyed every minute of my membership in this society so far and I promise you that you will too. The committee and I look forward to making 2022-2023 the Law Society`s best year yet. Commenting on the nominations, Co-Chairs Jessica Phillips and Lucy Cole said: “We are very proud that UELS has been recognized as a national leader through these prestigious appointments. This is a challenging year for corporations, but we are very grateful for the hard work the committee has done to make the virtual law firm as good as possible, as well as the incredible support we received from members at the 90+ events we held. “On behalf of the Committee for 2022-2023, I am delighted to welcome you to the York Law Society! We are one of the largest and most active companies on campus and recognized nationally after winning the LawCareers.net “Best Law Society for Non-Lawyer Students” award in 2017 and 2018. The company has three main objectives. The first is to help you understand life in the legal industry, no matter what career path you choose.
The second is to help you achieve your ambitions by providing you with networking, educational, and professional opportunities. The third is to create a safe place for you to reach them. With our three key themes of inclusion, diversity and well-being, society is a great place for law and non-law students to relax, meet new people and come together as a community. We are aware that academic life is one of the first steps in our legal career and that companies facing the law are often our first taste of networking in the legal field. Therefore, as the largest society at our university, it is imperative to create a safe, inclusive and accessible environment for all our members, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, disability or ethnicity. For this reason, our society has appointed a 9-member subcommittee on Wellness, Diversity and Inclusion (BAME Officer, LGBTQ+ Agent, Women`s Officer, Disability Officer, Social Mobility Officer, Non-Legal Officer, LLB Graduate Officer, Wellness Officer, International Student Officer) dedicated to greater diversity and inclusion in our society. Supported by three law firms (Clifford Chance, Baker Makenzie and Latham & Watkins), our team has been fortunate to have the opportunities, resources and support to create events, projects and initiatives that promote and encourage diversity in our society. The Student Bar Awards Ceremony will take place virtually on the evening of Thursday, March 18, 2021 and will bring together representatives from renowned corporate sponsors and named student bar associations. The objective of the Law Society Group is to educate members and provide them with the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge relevant to a career within the Bar Association. These included weekly workshops ranging from information on the Bar Practice Course, Inns of Court, the various scholarships offered, and obtaining mini-student and student positions. This year, we paid particular attention to demystifying the stereotype of the “white male” in the bar, with a focus on inclusion initiatives such as the Inner Temple PASS program and promoting social mobility.
Other events planned for the next semester include a non-commercial Pathways panel with Chrissie Wolf, known for her YouTube channel Law and Broader, and a discussion with Grainne Staunton, partner at regional law firm Tozers. We wanted to make sure that law students and non-lawyer students would learn other legal career paths and not just work at a commercial law firm in the city. We are also hosting an event with Women in Business that focuses on developing business awareness. We are proud to work with some of the world`s most successful and innovative law firms regionally and internationally. We also have close links with renowned chambers in London and the North East circuit. Membership allows you to benefit from the close collaboration with our network by learning first-hand about life in the legal field through lectures, workshops and office visits. Members also benefit from the YLS Application Acceleration Program. This university-wide mentorship program is run by successful professionals and students and is designed to grow you from a student to a future lawyer, whether in the legal profession, in a municipal law firm, or working for a charity.
We are aware of the challenges of gaining hands-on experience in advocacy, which is why this year we held a new workshop on mock trials in October and held our own mock trial for newcomers on November 14. The competition was only open to participants with no previous advocacy experience and we created opportunities to provide individual feedback to all participants. In March 2021, we will be hosting our campus-wide mock test, which is open to all members and participates in external competitions such as the Surrey National Simulation and the BPP Advocate of the Year competition. No matter where you are interested in the legal field, we are well equipped to help you achieve your goals. Our Mooting and Bar Society has been shortlisted nationally as one of the best in the country and offers exceptional advocacy and advocacy training to prepare you for the Bar Association. Our journal, Ebor Lex, offers its students an academic opportunity on topics they are passionate about, at the intersection of law and current events.
